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Submission + - Gee, you mean I don't own my own contacts/friends?

Submitted by pcause
pcause writes: Google recently stopped Facebook from importing contacts from Gmail, as this article from Wired discusses. All very interesting, but isn't the real issue that the list of my friends doesn't and shouldn't belong to Google, Facebook or anyone else. Isn't this mine and shouldn't I have control of who can have access? After all, by this logic Google could claim to own my email messages.

Submission + - Maybe the motto should be "Don't be arrogant" (allthingsd.com)

Submitted by pcause
pcause writes: Here is yet more proof of the arrogance of the leadership of Google. Eric Schmidt says that if you don't like Street View taking your picture, move! Wow, this guy really doesn't have any clue about civility, privacy and just how to keep his mouth shut when his brain has something dumb to say.

Submission + - Why is Google supporting Flash? 1

Submitted by pcause
pcause writes: Google seems to have rushed to Adobe's defense and has added Flash to Chrome and is adding it to Android. The question is: why" Flash is a big security issue Web browsers,seems to need more patching that IE6, and is proprietary. Google has usually been a champion of standards and openness and has created a lot of great Web UIs with JavaScript. Given JavaScript and HTML5 there aren't many things we'll need Flash for and from a security point of view, we're better off without it.

Why is Google so eager to champion Flash as opposed to a set of standards they, Apple and Microsoft *all* agree on?
Privacy

Submission + - Google trying to scare us out of optin

Submitted by pcause
pcause writes: This article in Ars Technica discussed a proposal by a Virginia Congressman to give you back control of your privacy and make use of your personal and behavioral information opt-in. This scares the pants off of Google and they are trying to scare us with stories of how horrible the Internet will be if we have privacy. It will be terrible for Google's business, as they make more money the more they abuse your privacy, and they make a LOT of money!

Submission + - "Highly Confidential" Google docs say - Do Evil

Submitted by pcause
pcause writes: The latest documents released by Viacom show that Google knew that Youtube was "completely sustained by pirated content" before Google bought it. Of course, the docs that say this were labeled "highly confidential". I am sure that Google will say this is all old stuff, taken out of context and that they didn't have sex with that woman, Ms, Lewinsky. Sure.
Privacy

Submission + - You call this cloud privacy?

Submitted by pcause
pcause writes: Google and a coalition of tech companies want to create legal protections against the government accessing you content in the cloud. Of course, they aren't proposing any restrictions on how *THEY* can use you content, location information and the like to make more $$ and further violate your privacy. Unregulated, nontransparent and unaccountable corporate entities saying they are to be trusted. Ken Lay of Enron would love these guys.
Government

Submission + - NASA to help probe Toyota acceleration problem (yahoo.com)

Submitted by suraj.sun
suraj.sun writes: NASA and the National Academy of Sciences are joining the government's effort to figure out what caused the sudden acceleration problems that led to Toyota's massive recalls.

NASA scientists with expertise in electronics will help the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study potential electronic ties to unintended acceleration in Toyotas. NASA's knowledge of electronics, computer hardware and software and hazard analysis will ensure a comprehensive review, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday.

In a separate study, the National Academy of Sciences will examine unwanted acceleration and electronic vehicle controls in cars from around the auto industry, LaHood said. The National Academy is an independent organization chartered by Congress.

Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100330/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toyota_recall
Science

Submission + - Glitches delay collisions at Big Bang experiment

Submitted by oxide7
oxide7 writes: Physicists at the CERN research center delayed attempts on Tuesday to create mini-versions of the Big Bang after what they called minor technical problems blocked the launch of the marathon experiment. After a trouble-free overnight test run, first a small power supply glitch and then an over-sensitive magnet safety system led the physicists to suspend at least for a few hours the mega-power particle collisions, the focus of the world's largest scientific experiment.
Open Source

Submission + - Five great open source security applications (computerworlduk.com)

Submitted by superapecommando
superapecommando writes: Contributions from free and open software makers can be found throughout the tech world. From your data centre to the desktop and everywhere in between; there's an open solution to your computing needs.
This is no less true in information security. My focus in this article is the several outstanding information security desktop tools that personify the innovation and ingenuity of the FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) world. Please keep in mind that all of these applications (except one) are cross platform so you can find appropriate versions on whatever you run (BSD, Mac OSX, Linux or Windows). The examples herein, however, will be catered to the largest install base (statistically): Microsoft Windows.

Submission + - Youtube *was*evil, and Google knew

Submitted by pcause
pcause writes: Silicon Alley Insider has the most damning evidence released in the Viacom/YouTube suit. It seems clear from these snippets that YouTube knew it was pirating content and did it to grow fast and sell for a lot of $$. It also seems clear that Google knew the site was pirated content and bought it and continued the pirating.

Submission + - Comcast launches first public U.S. trial of DNSSEC (networkworld.com)

Submitted by cryan7755
cryan7755 writes: Comcast unveiled on Tuesday an aggressive plan to deploy new DNS security mechanisms that are designed to protect Web site operators and consumers from a specific type of hacking attack that involves hijacking Web traffic and redirecting it to bogus sites.
Google

Submission + - YouTube to kill IE6 support on March 13

Submitted by Joel
Joel writes: Over six months ago, Google announced it would start phasing out support for Internet Explorer 6 on Orkut and YouTube, and started pushing its users to modern browsers. The search giant has now given a specific kill date for old browser support on the video website: "Support stops on March 13th. Stopped support essentially means that some future features on YouTube will be rolled out that won't work in older browsers."

YouTube will have an interstitial appear when users on older browser try to watch a video on YouTube. Google says the interstitial will show up indefinitely every two weeks until the user upgrades to the most recent version of their browser. Google deems anything below IE7, Firefox 3.0, Chrome 4.0, and Safari 3.0 as an "older browser."Users on these browsers will still be able to watch YouTube videos, but additional features that Google plans to roll out may not be supported in these older browsers.

Submission + - Foxconn iWonder Android tablet to sell for $100 (liliputing.com) 1

Submitted by Xacid
Xacid writes: "Looking to spend some quality time with Google Android, but don’t feel like plunking down the cash for a smartphone and then shelling out more money each month for a data plan? I already told you about one relatively affordable option this week: The Archos 5 Internet tablet which starts at just $250. But Taiwanese PC maker Foxconn has an Android-powered tablet that cuts that price in half twice."

Interesting competitor to the iPad. Definitely not a prize fighter, but certainly a viable option for those looking for a similar device on a budget.

More details on the gadget here:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/18/iwonder-why-the-logo-is-upside-down/
http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2010/02/iwonder-tablet.html

Submission + - British MPs: "Stop Funding Homeopathy" (newscientist.com)

Submitted by Sabre Runner
Sabre Runner writes: In an amazing feat of scientific sense, a committee of British members of parliament decides to stop the funding of Homeopathic treatments.
"Homeopathic remedies work no better than placebos, and so should no longer be paid for by the UK National Health Service, a committee of British members of parliament has concluded. [...] In preparing its report, the committee, which scrutinises the evidence behind government policies, took evidence from scientists and homeopaths, and reviewed numerous reports and scientific investigations into homeopathy. It found no evidence that such treatments work beyond providing a placebo effect."
I personally like the scolding of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency: "The committee rejected the MHRA's justification for licensing homeopathic remedies – that there is an "important homeopathic tradition" to uphold. "Witchcraft is traditional, so does that mean the MHRA should endorse that too?" [committee chairman and Liberal Democrat MP Phil] Willis asks."

Comment Re:ltsp problems (Score 3, Interesting) 79

by stgraber (#31228148) Attached to: After 2 Years of Development, LTSP 5.2 Is Out
And that's why we implemented localapps. Running firefox as a localapp will let you do fullscreen flash just fine. As I mentioned, LTSP is either using X11 over SSH or SSH only for authentication. In the second mode, your credentials are sent securely but the actual X11 events are send unencrypted, so that's actually faster than any OpenVPN/IPSEC you may use.

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